Introducing Prophetic Pragmatism

A Dialogue on Hope, the Philosophy of Race, and the Spiritual Blues

Jacob L. Goodson and Brad Elliott Stone

Prophetic pragmatism is a gritty philosophical framework that undergirds the intellectual and political work done by those who seek to overcome despair, dogmatism, and oppression. It seeks to unite one’s intellectual vocation and one’s duty to fight for justice. Cognizant of the ways in which political forces affect thought, while also requiring political action to not be so sure of itself that it simply replaces one oppressive structure with another, prophetic pragmatism requires a critical temper through the mode of Socratic questioning. Introducing Prophetic Pragmatism argues that hope lies between critical temper and democratic faith. Socratic questioning, prophetic witness, and tragicomic hope open a space for democratic energies to flourish against the forces of nihilism and poverty. Critical temper keeps democratic faith from becoming too idealistic and Pollyannaish, and democratic faith keeps critical temper from being pessimistic about the ability to change current realities. These twin pillars provide the best and most helpful framework for understanding the nature and purpose of prophetic pragmatism. Through their dialogue, Jacob L. Goodson and Brad Elliott demonstrate why prophetic pragmatism is, in the words of Cornel West, “pragmatism at its best.”

Lexington Books

Pages: 166 • Trim: 6½ x 9

978-1-4985-3996-8 • Hardback • August 2019 • $111.00 • (£85.00)

978-1-4985-3998-2 • Paperback • April 2023 • $39.99 • (£30.00)

978-1-4985-3997-5 • eBook • August 2019 • $38.00 • (£30.00)

Subjects: Philosophy / Movements / Pragmatism, Philosophy / Religious, Religion / Ethics

Introducing Prophetic Pragmatism

A Dialogue on Hope, the Philosophy of Race, and the Spiritual Blues

Hardback

Paperback

eBook

Summary

Prophetic pragmatism is a gritty philosophical framework that undergirds the intellectual and political work done by those who seek to overcome despair, dogmatism, and oppression. It seeks to unite one’s intellectual vocation and one’s duty to fight for justice. Cognizant of the ways in which political forces affect thought, while also requiring political action to not be so sure of itself that it simply replaces one oppressive structure with another, prophetic pragmatism requires a critical temper through the mode of Socratic questioning. Introducing Prophetic Pragmatism argues that hope lies between critical temper and democratic faith. Socratic questioning, prophetic witness, and tragicomic hope open a space for democratic energies to flourish against the forces of nihilism and poverty. Critical temper keeps democratic faith from becoming too idealistic and Pollyannaish, and democratic faith keeps critical temper from being pessimistic about the ability to change current realities. These twin pillars provide the best and most helpful framework for understanding the nature and purpose of prophetic pragmatism. Through their dialogue, Jacob L. Goodson and Brad Elliott demonstrate why prophetic pragmatism is, in the words of Cornel West, “pragmatism at its best.”

Details

Lexington Books

Pages: 166 • Trim: 6½ x 9

978-1-4985-3996-8 • Hardback • August 2019 • $111.00 • (£85.00)

978-1-4985-3998-2 • Paperback • April 2023 • $39.99 • (£30.00)

978-1-4985-3997-5 • eBook • August 2019 • $38.00 • (£30.00)

Subjects: Philosophy / Movements / Pragmatism, Philosophy / Religious, Religion / Ethics

Author

Jacob L. Goodson is associate professor of philosophy at Southwestern College in Winfield, Kansas.

Brad Elliott Stone is professor of philosophy at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.

Table of Contents

Goodson & Stone, Introduction

Part One: What Is Prophetic Pragmatism?

Chapter 1: Stone, The Twin Pillars of Prophetic Pragmatism

Chapter 2: Goodson, Prophetic Pragmatism or Tragic Transcendentalism?

Chapter 3: Stone, Prophetic Pragmatism Is Pragmatism at Its Best

Chapter 4: Goodson, Is Cornel West’s Prophetic Pragmatism Marxism at Its Best?

Part Two: Prophetic Pragmatism and the Philosophy of Race

Chapter 5: Goodson, Hope against Hope

Chapter 6: Stone, Tragicomic Hope and the Spiritual Blues Impulse

Part Three: Prophetic Pragmatism’s Relation to Neo-Pragmatism

Chapter 7: Stone, Can There Be Hope Without Prophecy?

Chapter 8: Goodson, Three Prophetic Pragmatisms: Deep, Strong, Weak

Reviews

The power of Introducing Prophetic Pragmatism lies in its co-authorship. In scholarly friendship, Goodson and Stone debate, explore, respond, and sometimes agree to disagree about the meaning and relevant contexts of Cornel West's groundbreaking work. The result is a fresh approach to understanding prophetic pragmatism.
— Shannon Sullivan, UNC Charlotte

What reason is there to reason in the face of catastrophic suffering and injustice? What hope? For Goodson and Stone, the answer is Prophetic Pragmatism: practices of prudential reasoning that display their powers of discernment and repair in times of darkness, when conventional reasonings lose their efficacy. But how, then, to introduce this pragmatism within the conventions of a book? The authors’ ingenious solution is to compose the book dialogically, shuttling back and forth between their divergent accounts of what prophetic pragmatism means. Attentive readers become participants in the dialogue – no mere observers. When they do, there is even more to hope for.
— Peter Ochs, University of Virginia